519B - Icelandic Legendary animals - Skoffin

Icelandic legends abound with tales of strange creatures on land, in air and sea. There is an entire genre of legends involving “beings in lochs and sea”. Skoffin is said to be the offspring of a cat and a fox. Beachwalker, a creature of the sea, posed danger to sheep in the mating season. Shellmonster was a multilegged creature, rusty brown and hairy, which made a rattling sound when it moves. There was the poisonous Reverse-Fin Trout with all fins turning forward instead of backward. Iceland Post has issued a sheet with ten stamps featuring an artist’s conception of some of these creatures. Among them are the Horse-Whale, the Ghoul Cat, Sea Cattle, Seal Mother, Mouse-Whale and Red-Crest. A recently published book, “Meeting with Monsters” covers the best known of these legendary creatures. The book is available in Icelandic and English and can be ordered from Postphil Iceland.